At the present time, mechanics and other workmen engaged in jobs on a roof face a necessity of raising large loads such as those ranging in the order of 100 to 300 pounds to the roof. An example of such a load is an air conditioner. Ordinarily, mechanics of this type do not have available hoisting apparatus such as a crane for getting the load to the roof and the general practice has been for the mechanic or workman to carry the load up a ladder. Such an operation is not only highly inconvenient and cumbersome but also subjects the workman to excessive fatigue.
At the present time so far as the applicant is aware there is no winch or comparable hoisting device, which is, in the first instance, collapsible and of light weight so that it may be readily carried up a ladder by a single workman and then erected on a roof and includes an extensible beam which is pivotally mounted on a frame with a winch on a moveable part of the beam and a pulley on the end of the fixed part of the beam which extends beyond the roof edge when the frame is erected and a seat for an operator of the winch which is positioned so that the weight of the operator to a great extent counterbalances or off-sets the load being hoisted. The present invention is founded on the basic concept of providing a portable roof winch having the above characteristics.